Tubeless help, please!

PS- when people talk about Gorliia tape, they're talking about Gorilla Tape you buy at Home Depot, right? Duct tape?

Can I ask what rim/ tire combo you have?
Not all valves work with all rim profiles, Roval suggests their valve, and magic does the same.
Gorilla tape is not completely air tight, while the stans tape is. If there is any corrosion on the rim bed it will let air into the spoke holes and around the tape.

I'm running WTB STP i25 rims and a Maxxis Highroller II on this wheel. The bead is insanely good; I can rarely get it back off without a lot of cursing! The air is definitely not coming out between the wheel/tire.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll go back to the Stan's tape. I'm still not sure that's what is causing this leak, though. There's a lot of air coming out. It's blowing big, fast bubbles from under the nut on the valve stem.

I had a similar problem with a wheel at work the other day. That rim had an asymmetric profile such that the valve hole was not centered on the high point of the rim. A second, fatter o ring on the outside solved my problem.

if air is leaking at the valve, its probably the valve/valve insertion point
-+1 for bigger rubber o-ring in between the rim and valve collar
-with the valve installed and collar hand tight, put the wheel on the ground and push on the valve from the back to create more slack for spinning the collar even further - obviously we want to be able to get the valve out in an emergency on the trail so dont over tighten or use a tool to tighten
-it takes time for sealant to work - if air is coming out at the valve, install everything including sealant and get the sealant where the leak is. spin the wheel so the valve is at the bottom, and gently shake the wheel so sealant will splash the valve over and over again. you can also gently bounce the wheel against the ground with leaky side hitting the ground.

I'll try the o-ring trick.

By the way, in my most recent attempts I've been using no sealant in the wheel, just to see if it holds air at the stem. Does the Gorilla tape need to be "conditioned" with sealant to work?
Obviously, I intend to run sealant for punctures but I was just planning on squeezing it in through the valve stem after determining I didn't have to disassemble again..

Falcon wrote:

I'll try the o-ring trick.

By the way, in my most recent attempts I've been using no sealant in the wheel, just to see if it holds air at the stem. Does the Gorilla tape need to be "conditioned" with sealant to work?
Obviously, I intend to run sealant for punctures but I was just planning on squeezing it in through the valve stem after determining I didn't have to disassemble again..

Gorilla tape doesn't seem to be the solution to your stem problem. Stans tape isn't woven like the gorilla or duck tape. I have found heating up the end of a pokey tool (pick, needle, dentist's torture instrument) then creating a perfect hole in the tape to work the best with situations involving the valve. Stans tape has a tendency to split if you cut the valve hole too big.

Another solution could be to get the specific WTB valve. It is designed to work with WTB rims and should fit yours well.

Cant you just stick the wheel in the bath and see where its leaking? I have also sprayed soapy water around the valve stem and spotted the bubbles confirming its the valve

Good luck

The air is definitely coming from underneath the valve collar nut. None of the spoke nipples are blowing bubbles but the valve stem is. I can see it coming out from under the nut; it has a flat profile and the rim is curved so it's easy to see with soapy water.
I've been heating up a phillips screwdriver to puncture the tape over the stem hole.

How tight are you turning the nut on the valve? The rubber piece on the end of the valve is meant to create a seal so that no air escapes through the valve hole.

If nothing else works i would suggest getting the rubber conversion strips with the valve moulded into the strip.
Either that or getting the WTB TCS valves what are made to slot directly into the channel.

I've tried "finger" tight, "push on the back side with my thumb + finger" tight, and "deform the inner rubber cone because you cranked on the collar nut with pliers" tight. None seems to work.

I'm going to try the rubber o-ring trick first; that should go between the cone-shaped rubber piece on the valve stem and the inside of the rim, against the wheel tape, right? (That's where the air has to stop.)

dude! why are you not using sealant?? that is what sealant is for... it sealzes shit. you could be done days ago

dirtyberd wrote:

dude! why are you not using sealant?? that is what sealant is for... it sealzes shit. you could be done days ago

I do use sealant, but removing it every time I had to re-disassemble the wheel was getting old the other day. The leak is far too fast for the sealant to stop it. I'm trying to get the main malfunction corrected and then I'll run the sealant again.

What brand valve are you using?
You shouldn't have to put an o ring on the outside of the rim. That means air and air pressure is getting to a place where it isn't supposed to be. That means sealant and other liquid will be getting to the spokes and causing corrosion.
I had this same problem on another WTB rim (an older frequency rim).
Good luck! - I mean it, I've been there, and I do tubeless conversions for a living!

Broken_spoke.photo wrote:

What brand valve are you using?
You shouldn't have to put an o ring on the outside of the rim. That means air and air pressure is getting to a place where it isn't supposed to be. That means sealant and other liquid will be getting to the spokes and causing corrosion.
I had this same problem on another WTB rim (an older frequency rim).
Good luck! - I mean it, I've been there, and I do tubeless conversions for a living!

This is what I was thinking.

For now, I'm giving up. I just grabbed a tube and went riding over the weekend. I'm over it. Gonna recharge for a few weeks or months and then try again... start all over with branded wheel tape and some professional help.